Around This Age
by akamai
Summary: Along with her face being filthy, Toph gets her first zit. Sokka lectures her on her appearance, but Toph's looks don't seem to be as bad to him as he makes it seem. [Tokka]


A Sokka x Toph one-shot or drabble. This is me attempting to write something for tokka100 on lj.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Avatar. If I did, it would be canceled in a few episodes.

**Around This Age**

"Wash your face, Toph. It's starting to look really dirty," Katara curtly said to her sleeping friend. She threw her a towel that softly landed on Toph's face, and the awakened earth bender groaned. Too tired to inform Katara that she was not her mother, Toph sat up from her cot letting the towel fall off her face. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and her hand lazily fell down her cheek after doing so.

After her hand left her face, Toph's eyes widened and she touched her skin again. She felt a bump, and rubbed it. Toph wondered if her lack of hygiene resulted in small chunks of dirt sticking to her face and silently mused on how that was possible. She then swiftly stood up, hand still on cheek as she sensed that the boys were coming into her and Katara's tent.

"Morning, Toph!" she heard Aang cheerily say. "Katara said you needed a lot water to wash your face, so me and Sokka got you a bucket full of it." He dropped the bucket at her feet and a few drops splashed on her toes.

"And you really need it," Sokka added. "Sheesh Toph, you really need to take a bath every once in a while like other girls." A pebble hit and bounced off his head shortly after he completed his statement. "Oww...sorry…" he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"I could get water myself," Toph snapped at the two of them. "And I don't care how 'other girls' do things."

"Well, it'd be nice if you took some advice from me for once," Sokka replied.

"You know what? You're right. I'm so sorry for _ever_ doubting you Sokka," Toph told him, her comment dripping with sarcasm. She then folded her arms.

Aang laughed nervously, and then spoke. "Hey guys, stop arguing, it's—"

He then paused and blinked. Sokka watched Aang's finger point towards Toph. "Toph… your face..."

"What is it?" Toph quickly put her hand back on her cheek, inwardly scolding herself for putting her hand down.

"You have a bump on there. It's a—"

"Zit!" Sokka finished, forgetting their squabble. "Toph, you have a zit!"

"What's going on?" a voice said from the opening of the girls' tent. Katara had returned with fruits she had collected for breakfast and set them on the ground.

"I don't have a zit," Toph angrily replied. "I've never had a zit in my life, so it's probably just a little piece of dirt..."

Her voice drifted off as she felt Katara walk over to her. Toph removed her hand from her face, letting Katara examine it. "It could be dirt, since you still haven't washed your face, Toph, but it's really a pimple."

Toph scoffed. "Well, it doesn't really matter...and do you guys mind giving me some space? Stop crowding around me like that!"

Her three friends backed away and Katara sighed. "Look, it might bother you now but it will probably go away. These things start to happen around your age. Just wash your face and try not to pop the pimple when you do it."

Katara then turned towards Aang. "Come on Aang, I thought we could practice some more water-bending in the stream downhill before we eat..."

After Katara and Aang left, Toph scowled as she still felt Sokka's presence. "And what are you still doing here?"

"Well, I hope you now know how important cleanliness can be," he lectured. "Now you have to worry about dirt _and_ zits."

Toph fumed. "I don't care how ugly you think I look...and I also don't believe you've been sparkling clean either."

Sokka gave a light frown at her comment. "Ok, fine. I know _I'm_ not clean! But Toph that wasn't true…I don't think you're ugly."

Toph swallowed and shrugged her shoulders. Shortly after, she began: "Oh, Toph, you look so dirty! Toph, cleanliness is really important! Now you have dirt _and_ zits to worry about!"

"I get your point," Sokka grumbled. "Sorry about that. But really, I don't think you're ugly."

"Whatever you say, Sokka. And I'm sorry that you don't think I'm ugly, but you still don't like the way I look."

Sokka winced. He slapped his forehead. "D'oh! Toph...everything I say to you seems to come out the wrong way. Look...maybe you should ignore what I say; sometimes I don't mean it."

Toph said nothing and then, "…right."

"For the most part…I really think you look…nice. You're fine just the way you are, and I'm telling the truth here."

Sokka noticed Toph's eyes widen. Her face softened, but resumed back to normal in a matter of a few seconds. She spoke, with a less than well crafted reply. "Well...even if you do think I look fine, there was no need to lie in the first place!" She kicked up her foot and created a wall between them.

"Hehe...that's true," Sokka squeaked from the other side. "I better leave you alone now."

Toph smirked defiantly from behind the barrier, blushing at how dumb Sokka sounded. She felt embarrassed for _him_.

After Sokka's departure, Toph silently washed her face and began to wonder what other strange things would begin to happen around her age.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I didn't really like this because I thought this was pretty cliché. But I posted it anyway since Tokka needs more love! Thanks for reading and please review.  



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